REVENGE IS A DISH BEST ENACTED USING AN UNREAD BLOGSPOT
(Well, maybe not "best").

For the past ten months I have been designing and editing three papers for a publisher in Highland Park, CA. When I first saw these newspapers, I knew that anything I could add to them would be an improvement on what was then being done, both in terms of content and presentation. In fact, the editorial content was less literate than that found in most U.S. high school newspapers, and the design resembled something done by a victim of poorly administered, and dangerously repetitive Electro-Shock Therapy.

James, as I’ll call the publisher of these papers, initially attempted to wow me with his grandiose scheme to turn these papers into the foundation of a publishing empire that would rival Rupert Murdoch’s. He even bragged about how he had contacted Murdoch for advice.

Despite my horror at his choice in role models, I attempted to tell him that I believed there was a place for vital, community newspapers that were geared towards the working-class people in the neighborhoods where he distributed his products. Because, well, I do.

So, I designed a new look for the papers, along a folksy model, and proceeded to put them together each month. This was largely a nightmare, because, though there was little timely content and James had a month to sell the ads, he never began working on the papers until after the deadline had passed each month. Between his lack of organization, seeming laziness and illiterate editorial contributions, the process was grueling.

Now, almost a year after beginning work on these papers, James has hired two, actually capable editors. (Well, one is capable.) However, since he is still in charge of the advertising, putting the papers together is still an incredibly painful process. Additionally, James still insists on writing his own embarrassing content, mostly a week past the deadline, and insists on its inclusion.

What is truly amazing is that, though he is incompetent in just about every aspect of publishing, he still manages to get these papers out each month. Admittedly, it is mainly due to my ability to pump out pages at the last minute (and the editors’ ability to turn his illiterate ramblings into almost readable narrative.) Even more amazing, he now claims that a bank is begging him to buy the Wave Newspaper Group in Los Angeles. These community papers, including La Ola and E Scene, mainly serving the African American and Latino markets in LA are in bankruptcy and are looking for a buyer.

It is mind-boggling to imagine that someone who runs three papers so poorly may be getting a chance to run 15 more. Perhaps he will fail upward, like George W. Bush. Bush was adept at running businesses into the ground and then being handed better ones to ruin. I’m just glad that James is not a U. S. citizen, or he might rise to inconceivable heights.